


snowflakes rise

by enfvs



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Ben Solo - Freeform, F/M, Finnpoe said gay rights, Fluff, Maybe only a couple chapters, Rey - Freeform, Slow burn but is it though?, Star Wars - Freeform, This is the soft snowboarder Rey au I needed, do u want to read it yet, rey is cocky but so is ben, sequel trilogy, soft hours, soft mountain hours, soft rey, trust me I'm a snowboarder
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-31
Updated: 2020-01-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:41:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22488838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enfvs/pseuds/enfvs
Summary: Without intending it, she’s locked herself into a risky battle between the ashole skier, the trees they’re barely avoiding, and her own safety. Rey’s read enough skiing horror stories to know that this could end with both of them dead, yet she speeds up. She’s always let the adrenaline get the better of her, especially in fierce competition. She cuts directly in front of the skier, pulling away just in time so they don’t crash.
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Poe Dameron/Finn, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	snowflakes rise

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the soft snowboarder Rey fic! Each chapter will be a different character's pov, so generally povs won't be switched around that much. I hope that's easier for y'all to understand the basic plot of the story! Obviously, this is my first fic on here, so it would be great if you gave me feedback or left kudos. It means a lot!  
> To make this fic as accurate as possible, there's a lot of snowboarding/skiing terminology that lots of you might not understand. Because of this, I'll include a glossary at the end of every chapter explaining any potentially new words and what they mean. I hope that helps!  
> Other than that, please enjoy!

Rey skids to a stop, causing an icy cloud of snow to spray in front of her. She’d only been going a couple yards or so, and could’ve gone further, but snowboarding with friends always meant she has to wait. Especially for her best friend, Finn, who has never done this sport before. She has to have patience. She sits next to him, waiting for him to catch his breath, and he gives her an appreciative look through his goggles. His boyfriend, Poe, pats him on the shoulder.

“He’s learning,” Poe says reassuringly. “Nearly did a “c”-curve, too.”

Rey and Finn are visiting Poe at his college in Boulder, Colorado for the week, but Poe insisted they spend several nights at his favorite resort first. Rey didn’t protest; she knew how to snowboard, and she wouldn’t mind visiting some old friends in the area. But Finn, having grown up in Florida where he and Rey go to college, had no experience with snow sports. Since Rey and Poe both already snowboarded, it made sense to start Finn out on one, too. This is their third trip down the mountain, the smallest one at First Order Mountain Resort. And he’s already trying to copy their more advanced turns, called s-curves. So far, he’s failed. Rey is usually a patient person, but it’s a sunny bluebird day, and part of her wants to go barreling down the bunny hill and towards the double-blacks, where she waits for no one.

“Take your time, Finn,” she adds instead. “I know it’s hard, but you’re making progress.”

Finn groans. “Doesn’t feel like it. Are we in the way?”

Rey looks around at the bunny slope. They’re stopped dead in the middle, but other skiers seem to have no problem avoiding the trio and continuing on their way.

“Not at all.” Rey observes. “Take all the time you need.”

It’s another couple of minutes before Finn seems to feel ready enough to continue, and by then, thoughts of abandoning the group are long gone. Rey smiles, helps Finn up, and prepares for another short stint of bliss before the next hiccup.

As she glides on the crisp snow, Rey remembers when she first began to snowboard. She was seven or eight, staying with her adopted father, Luke, at his sister’s house. His sister was the owner of Empire Ski Equipment, located directly inside the local ski resort. Luke suggested she take it up, since they would be coming there often to visit his sister, Leia. He taught her patiently, taking her every afternoon that they stayed with Leia, making sure she enjoyed the sport. Rey always appreciated how he never woke her up in the early mornings; he knew how much she hated being up before dawn.

Rey’s shaken back into reality when they arrive at the lift at the bottom of the hill. A young skier almost crashes into her, and she has to swing out of the way for his benefit. Poe laughs at her as he helps Finn unstrap one of his boots. Rey does the same; in order to get around a flat surface on a snowboard, everyone needs one leg free so they can skate to their destination.

“Rey? Did you hear me?” Finn’s voice brings her back to reality.

“No, sorry. What was that?” She blushes.

“We’re gonna stop for lunch. I’m wiped out, and Poe says he could go for a beer, so—”

“Lunch?” Rey pulls out her phone to check the time. The screen is cold to the touch. “It’s barely 10:30.”

“Yeah, Rey-Rey, we know. You should go to the Starkiller Bowl while we rest. The snow is really good today, it’d be worth it.”

Rey considers. Starkiller Bowl is nearly all the way across the park from the bunny hill, but she can go fast when she’s alone. A flurry of guilt hits her chest: Would it really be okay to leave Poe and Finn for what could be several hours? They’re only here for a few more days, after all.

Finn seems to sense her conflict, and he gently touches her arm. “Go,” he says. “We’ll be fine.”

* * *

Rey’s flying.

She’s far from the bunny hill now, far enough so she can go more quickly without the risk of crushing young skiers. She’s forgotten how it feels to have the wind tearing at her jacket, the ice pelting her face as she creates clouds of snow.  _ This  _ is why she loves snowboarding, she realizes. The bite, the thrill, the freedom.

Rey almost makes a wrong turn; she’s on autopilot, and usually goes this way to get to the mid-mountain restaurant, Tatooine’s Suns. She almost considers going that way anyway - stopping for a quick bowl of their famous clam chowder, maybe even some fries…

No, Finn and Poe will be waiting long enough for her already. She stays on her current course. A sign affirms she’s headed in the right direction:  _ Starkiller Bowl this way. Wind level: medium. Starkiller Express Lift open. _

Rey remembers when the Starkiller Bowl wasn’t called the Starkiller Bowl, when the First Order Mountain Resort had a different owner. Luke’s father was the owner and superintendent of the resort for over forty years. Empire Mountain Resort wasn’t as popular as First Order, but then again, neither were snow sports as a whole. Young Rey only got a couple years of Empire before a wealthy foreign investor bought out the entirety of the resort, leaving Luke and Leia to grasp hopelessly for business opportunities in the small ski town. Eventually, they founded Empire Ski Equipment, and barely managed to stay afloat ever since. Rey was too young to remember the days of Empire Mountain, but from what she’s been able to glean from listening to older skiers, it was a far superior resort. Rey notes this as she swerves around patches of ice and twigs in the middle of the run, cursing quietly. She’s almost to Starkiller Bowl before she’s pulled out of her thoughts.

The sight of the bowl is always shocking to Rey; just past treeline, it’s a massive scape of varying slopes, leaving the skier to weave their own path down the mountain. Rey loves the openness of the bowl - despite being one of the First Order’s main attractions, she barely crosses paths with anyone here.

On the seven-minute lift ride to the top, she risks checking her phone. It’s never a good idea up here, and she can see dropped gloves and ski poles directly below where others have lost their grip. Her gamble goes unrewarded; there are no new messages from Poe, Finn, or even Leia. It’s already been half an hour since she left her friends, and she imagines them, restless, but not wanting to bother her. She smiles a little. They’re too sweet.

After disembarking, Rey pauses at the summit, just like she and Luke used to do.  _ You’re at the top of the world, kid,  _ Luke used to say, and Rey would frown.  _ No, I’m not! That mountain’s higher!  _ she protested, and he laughed and helped her strap in.

She misses him every day.

The cold air is biting without trees to slow down the wind, and Rey adjusts her goggles. Her face is flushed from windburn, but what bothers her most is her watery eyes. She blinks once, twice, then starts down the mountain.

On runs like this, Rey barely processes thoughts. Her feet move back and forth, from toes to heels, right to left. When there’s a bump in the snow, she avoids it without having to consider. She’s in ecstasy. She hopes Finn has enough patience to be able to feel this rush. She imagines them beside her, going her speed, mirroring her strokes. She almost laughs out loud, then remembers herself. She’s not completely alone. Someone is near, near when they don’t have to be.

She can only assume they’re a man; his figure is so large it’s almost impossible for him to be feminine in any way. He’s wearing all black, except for his skis, which are alarmingly red. And he’s almost in her path.

They’re almost halfway down the bowl now, nearly to the point where it’s time to decide which tree run to continue down. The bowl filters into maybe ten separate columns of snow, some more populated than others. However, Rey and the skier are alone in their path. They’re headed for one of the thinner openings, an endeavor that more novice skiers might balk at. But it’s clear neither she nor the skier are beginners. Rey picks up the pace, trying to get ahead of him. She doesn’t want to have to worry about some unpredictable skier when she’s trying to avoid smacking her head into a trunk.

However, the dark skier seems to despise the idea of being passed. Noticing her, he picks up the pace too, causing them to barrel into an area they should  _ not  _ be barreling into. “ashole,” Rey mutters under her breath.

Without intending it, she’s locked herself into a risky battle between herself, Rey, the ashole skier, and the trees they’re barely avoiding. Rey’s read enough skiing horror stories to know that this could end with both of them dead, yet she speeds up. She’s always let the adrenaline get the better of her. She cuts directly in front of the skier, pulling away just in time so they don’t crash. She hears him yell out, then his poles scraping the snow, trying to gain speed.

“God, Poe’s gonna kill me,” she snorts, letting the crunch of snow cover up her words. Her board goes flat, and she gains speed. A tree comes up on her unexpectedly, and she goes hard on her heels to avoid it. Behind her, she can hear the skier doing the same. She wonders whether or not he knows how much she despises him, this cocky, aggressive skier dumbash. Maybe he thinks it’s all in good fun. It is, Rey considers, until it’s not.

After what feels like hours of fighting for space, the run opens up to a wider, more populated run. Rey stops abruptly, forcing the skier to stop also. They stare at each other, but not really. Their goggles and ski masks protect all facial expression. Rey lifts her goggles off of her face, flinching at the burning sensation of the cold air. Her forehead is wet from sweat, and she’s sure her face is red.

“You’re a real pain in the ass, you know that?” She growls. The skier makes no reaction, so Rey peels off her ski mask and tries again. “I  _ said,  _ you’re a-”

“I heard you the first time,” She can barely hear his voice, but it’s low and raspy from the chill. He doesn’t bother to take off his goggles.

“Look, if I wasn’t such a talented snowboarder, we’d both be thirty yards back with scratched equipment and broken bones. You’re welcome.”

“Bold of you to assume snowboarders have the capacity to have talent at all. Later days, snowflake.” He's gone before she can rebuttal, just another figure making their way towards the bottom. Rey frowns.

Snowflake?

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! A comment or kudos would mean a lot, if you have the time! Chapters will be posted sporadically, I'm pretty busy and I want it to turn out decent :)
> 
> GLOSSARY  
> By order of appearance  
> C-CURVE - The way beginner snowboarders get down the mountain. It's a shift of balance from your toes to your heels, which gives control and slows the board down.  
> S-CURVE - This is how advanced snowboarders go down. It's like a c-curve, but they're all connected together to form an S.  
> BLUEBIRD DAY - What snowboarders and skiers call a sunny day without any snow or wind. The ideal day to go to the mountains.  
> BUNNY HILL - Where most beginners go to learn. Very flat.  
> DOUBLE BLACKS - The most extreme type of slope. The ranking goes: green, blue, blue-black, black, double black, from easiest to hardest to get down.  
> LIFT - What skiers and snowboarders use to get to the top of the mountain. Basically just a seat suspended in the air.  
> RUN - The path from the top to the bottom of the mountain.  
> TREE RUN - A run, but with trees in the way. Usually only taken by more advanced skiers.
> 
> Drop a follow on Twitter if you want updates about new chapters! @tljs_ :)


End file.
